1. Field of the Invention:
This invention relates to an apparatus for supplying tire bead wires to each of a plurality of treating devices for the bead wires.
2. Description of the Prior Art:
A hitherto used tire bead wire supply apparatus has been known as, for example, disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 37,512/77. The apparatus disclosed in the Publication comprises a first transferring device including an upward transferring mechanism for upward transferring tire bead wires supplied from a preceding process one by one and hung by this mechanism. A disengaging mechanism disengages the bead wire from the transferring mechanism at the same time when the transferring mechanism is stopped. A first transferring conveyor includes a mechanism for continuously transferring the bead wires fed from the first transferring device. A stopping mechanism temporarily keeps the bead wires in order to feed them to a next process, and a mechanism issued for positioning in gripped positions the bead wires supplied one by one from the above first transferring conveyor. A second transferring device mechanically grips the bead wires with their insides located in the gripped positions and transfers the gripped bead wires to a supply portion for a working treating machine.
On the other hand, it has recently be proposed to simultaneously operate a plurality of treating devices in order to improve the production efficiency. If the above tire bead wire supply apparatus is applied to such a plurality of treating devices, it is required to provide the same number of supply apparatus as that of the treating devices because the above supply apparatus can supply the bead wires only to one treating device. Accordingly, the whole apparatus including the plurality of supply apparatus has become large-sized to increase its initial cost of the plant and complicated in construction. With the above supply apparatus, moreover, the upward transferring mechanism and the second transferring device must be moved upward and downward every time when one bead wire is supplied and therefore the apparatus operates with lower working efficiency.